Why is the winter solstice a watershed in a year?

I. Introduction to Winter Solstice, also known as Solstice, Winter Festival and Asian New Year, is an important solar term among the 24 solar terms and a traditional folk festival of ancestor worship in China. In ancient times, there was a saying that "the winter solstice is as big as a year". Every winter solstice, people will visit relatives to worship their ancestors, and the streets and alleys are very lively.

The winter solstice is the 22nd solar term among the 24 solar terms, and the longitude of the sun reaches 270. It is celebrated every year in Gregorian calendar 65438+February 2 1-23. This year's winter solstice date is 65438+ February 22nd of Gregorian calendar, and the 29th of lunar calendar 1 1 month. The winter solstice is the pole of the sun's direct southward travel, and it is the place with the shortest day and the longest night in the northern hemisphere (China is located in the northern hemisphere). After the winter solstice, the days in the northern hemisphere will be longer day by day.

Second, the custom of winter solstice is the starting point of the return of the sun, which indicates that the round-trip movement of the sun has entered a new cycle. Therefore, the ancients regarded the solstice of winter as a "good day", which is as important as the beginning of New Year's Day in ancient spring. In southern China, there are customs of offering sacrifices to ancestors and enjoying the winter solstice. In northern China, it is a custom to eat jiaozi from winter to Sunday every year. In addition, there are customs such as eating glutinous rice balls, drawing nine pictures, brewing rice wine, eating roasted ginger rice and eating sweet potato soup.